Bullfrogs Survive a Major Roster Move to Pound Oakland, 13-3

The Bullfrogs defeated the Oakland Skates, 13-3, before 9,011 Sunday at the Pond of Anaheim, and they did it short-handed once again.

After scoring three short-handed goals in Friday’s Roller Hockey International victory over Sacramento, forward Brad McCaughey, who had two goals, added another short-handed tally for the Bullfrogs Sunday.

Shayne Arsenault had two goals and three assists and Joe Cook added three goals and an assist in the Bullfrogs’ rout. But the team started the game short-handed.

Colin Ward, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound forward who scored two goals in the team’s season-opening victory over the Blades, was dealt to the Atlanta Fire Ants for defenseman Carl LeBlanc and a third-round draft pick in 1995, Bullfrogs Coach Grant Sonier said.

“He was forcefully traded to Atlanta,” Sonier said.

Ward, 23, was offered an ice hockey contract by the Atlanta Knights of the International Hockey League. But Ward could not sign the contract if he played roller hockey in Anaheim, Sonier said. The Fire Ants are owned by Richard Adler, Charles Felix and David Berkman. They also own the Knights.

“We could have called Atlanta’s bluff, but we didn’t want to jeopardize Colin’s ice hockey career,” Sonier said.

Ward, brother of the Kings’ Dixon Ward, will earn $50,000 in the IHL next season, Sonier said.

Ironically, the Fire Ants obtained another former Bullfrog, Devin Edgerton, under similar circumstances. Edgerton played for Atlanta Knights during the 1993-94 season and is on the Fire Ants’ taxi squad.

Both deals made Sonier bristle.

“Atlanta had no intention of signing Colin now until they heard he was playing for us,” Sonier said.

Even without a full roster, the Bullfrogs (4-0) were too much for the Skates to handle.

The 13-3 rout equaled the biggest margin of victory for the Bullfrogs, who defeated the Skates (1-4) by the same score in the regular-season finale last season.

The Bullfrogs put Sunday’s game out of reach by scoring three goals in a 53-second span in the third quarter to make it, 9-1. Cook then scored two goals in a 48-second span to cap a three-goal spurt in a 1-minute 10-second span during the fourth quarter to make it, 12-2.

Savo Mitrovic had two goals and two assists and Darren Langdon added a goal and three assists for the Bullfrogs, who outshot Oakland, 45-31.

Goalie Chris Gordon, in his second start, made 28 saves. He has allowed only six goals in two games.

“We feel we’ve established a good one-two punch in goal with Rob Laurie and Chris now,” Sonier said.

And now the Fire Ants can boast their own Anaheim one-two punch, courtesy of the Bullfrogs.

Notes

Forward Jim Brown missed Sunday’s game, serving a one-game suspension for a major penalty (high sticking) he received Friday in the Bullfrogs’ 11-6 victory over Sacramento. “He’s here to score goals, not to take penalties like that,” Bullfrogs Coach Grant Sonier said. How talented is the 20-year-old Brown? “He shoots the puck at an NHL level,” Sonier said. “Some guys on our team are in awe of this kid. They can’t believe how he can handle the puck.” . . . Forward Bobby McKillop, last season’s playoff most valuable player, also sat out Sunday night’s game. McKillop is rehabilitating a sprained right knee and is listed as tentative for Thursday’s game against San Jose at The Pond of Anaheim.